Cheapest Digital with a "Bulb" Setting

[Mark Ostrander]

Having just ruined my second caving camera, I find myself again searching for a replacement and trying to get the best bang for the buck. The last one was a Canon A630 and was in the $200 price range and took great pictures, but the longest it would let the shutter stay open for was 15 seconds. I really wish I could get something with a "bulb" setting that would let me wander down a passage and paint it in a more leisurely fashion. But I hate the thought of getting into the expensive DSLRs. Does anyone know of a digital camera out there (That they would recommend) that fits the bill?

[Phil Winkler]

Hmmm..The Nikon Coolpix 4500 has a B setting up to 5 minutes, but it doesn't seem too cheap.
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?ca ... ctNr=25503

I found it by googling: Digital camera +Bulb setting

[Todd]

You probably won't find a bulb setting on a cheap digital camera. The sensors in digital cameras are prone to electronic noise which builds up over time, so the longer the exposure, the more "grainy" an image will look. I had a Casio Elixim EX-Z750 that would take up to a 20 second exposure, but I never used it for anywhere near that long. Anything more than 4 or 5 seconds and the background noise in dark areas became very noticeable and annoying to me. A few more seconds and large purple blobs would start creeping in from the edges of the picture. By 20 seconds it was beginning to look like I'd taken a picture of a reflection on a TV screen that was tuned to a blank channel.
For about double the price of your last camera you could afford an entry level DSLR with a cheap lens. I think they all have a bulb setting. With it's bigger, better sensor you should get more useful time for a long exposure, but you'll still see noise pretty quickly. I haven't had my hands on one for long enough and in a dark enough area to test them myself, but that will be one of the first things I try when I get one. I've been eyeing the Olympus evolt 410... It's bulb setting is limited to 8 minutes, but I wouldn't expect a great image after that long.
-Todd